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Sh!t You Will Want

I’m getting ready to own my first home, and it has a badass garage, complete with wrap-around workbench and pegboard wall. The following is a list of shit I plan to put in there over the next year or so. The list is by no means comprehensive, but rather a starting point for a beginning motorcyclist who wants to do some basic maintenance on their own.

First, you’ll want a a set of metric wrenches. I have a set of regular old wrenches, and a set of fancy-schmancy ratcheting box-end wrenches. If you’ve got a metric bike, better have some metric tools, eh? If you don’t buy anything else, a set of regular wrenches should be enough to change your oil. I specify wrenches here because you can’t get to the oil drain plug with a socket on my VT750C2 You can use sockets on a Vulcan, and maybe a V-Star. I don’t know about Suzuki, so ask Google.

Second, at some point you’ll want a lift so you can work on the bike easier. I don’t have one yet, but Sears sells a few models that are under $200 and seem to be well built. Get the ones with better reviews. Duh. The other thing you can do with a lift is check your forks and wheels for damage and straightness.

You may also want an air compressor. It isn’t totally necessary but damn is it nice to have an air compressor with a bunch of attachments. Decent ones are around $100-$150. Again, Sears has some reasonably priced models.Then you’ll need some tunes. A good ghetto-blaster is the cornerstone of any garage. The one pictured below is for sale at Amazon, among other places, and even has a subwoofer. Not that SoundGarden or Genesis requires a lot of bass. Or talk radio for that matter. In any case, you need a stereo in your garage.

If you have some budget left over, nothing is as cool as old metal signs. Particularly old metal motorcycle signs. Again, Amazon can hook you up. I want some Triumph signs, and maybe some gas signs.